ISIS Attack on 'Apostates' Shakes Kabul

At least 57 die in voter registration center attack
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 23, 2018 12:03 AM CDT
ISIS Bomber Kills 57 at Voter Registration Center
An Afghan man looks out of a door of a voter registration center which was attacked by a suicide bomber in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, April 22, 2018.   (AP Photo/ Rahmat Gul)

An ISIS suicide bomber attacked a voter registration center in Afghanistan's capital on Sunday, killing at least 57 people and wounding more than 100 others, officials say. Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Majro says that among the 57 killed, 22 were women and eight were children. He says 119 people were wounded, among them 17 children and 52 women, and "the tolls could still rise," the AP reports. The bomber targeted civilians who were registering for national identification cards, Kabul police chief Gen. Daud Amin says.

The large explosion echoed across the city, shattering windows miles from the attack site and damaging nearby vehicles. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency, saying it had targeted Shiite "apostates." The attack comes almost a month after an ISIS suicide bomber carried out an attack near a Shiite shrine in Kabul that targeted attendees celebrating the Persian new year. That attack killed 31 people and wounded 65 others. A statement issued by the president's office condemned Sunday's attack and quoted President Ashraf Ghani as saying such "terrorist attacks" won't prevent people from participating in upcoming parliamentary elections.

(More Afghanistan stories.)

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